The Vanity Project are the latest NXT Tag Team Champions after defeating DarkState at Tuesday night’s NXT event on The CW, a result secured with crucial interference from Tony D’Angelo.
The match saw Brad Baylor and Ricky Smokes of The Vanity Project challenge Osiris Griffin and Saquon Shugars of DarkState for the titles. The contest was marked by back-and-forth action, with both teams exchanging offensive maneuvers. According to reports from Wrestling News Source, the early stages of the match saw Smokes and Griffin trading blows, while Baylor and Griffin engaged in a physical exchange.
As the match progressed, the involvement of Jackson Drake, a member of The Vanity Project and the current WWE EVOLVE Men’s Champion, began to influence the proceedings. Drake attempted to assist Baylor by placing his foot on the ropes during a pin attempt by Shugars, preventing a potential title retention for DarkState. This prompted a confrontation between Cutler James and Dion Lennox of DarkState and Drake, drawing the attention of the referee.
Capitalizing on the distraction, Tony D’Angelo unexpectedly entered the ring and delivered a chokeslam to Shugars on the ring apron. D’Angelo then rolled Shugars back into the ring and positioned Baylor for a pin, leading to The Vanity Project winning the NXT Tag Team Championship. This marks the first title win for Baylor and Smokes since joining “NXT” from “WWE Evolve,” as reported by Yahoo Sports.
DarkState had held the titles for 123 days, having previously defended them against Je’Von Evans and Leon Slater, and OTM in November and January respectively. The Vanity Project earned their title shot by defeating OTM, Hank and Tank, and Shawn Spears and Niko Vance last week.
Following the victory, D’Angelo stated his intention to continue targeting DarkState, vowing to dismantle their success. The outcome of the match leaves the future of DarkState’s dominance in question, as they have now lost their tag team titles.
